Westland Books Announces New Essay Collection by Pallavi Aiyar Exploring Identity and Travel

Publisher to Release Eight-Act Essay Collection in December

Westland Books is set to launch Travels in the Other Place: Pursuing the Self in Eight Acts, a collection of essays by journalist and author Pallavi Aiyar. The work reflects on identity, belonging and the emotional geographies shaped by travel, illness, parenting and loss.

Aiyar draws on a life lived across continents, from a childhood in India in the nineteen-eighties to a cancer diagnosis in Spain. The essays combine elements of memoir, philosophy and travel writing. They examine the experience of navigating a global world while managing personal transitions.

Aiyar said: “I have been crossing borders—literally—for 25 years now. This book is about taking the insights gained from a life of constant travel and applying them to other boundary-crossing life journeys—to do with identity, parenting, illness, languages and loss. It is about meeting a complex world with a sense of wonder and a book in hand.”

The book is structured in eight acts. Each section explores a different encounter with the self through spaces such as airport lounges and hospital rooms, reflecting on the experience of raising children, learning languages and confronting the emotional impact of illness and loss. The essays invite readers to engage with questions of rootedness and belonging in an age defined by movement.

Travels in the Other Place will be released on December 15, 2025 and will be available through online and offline bookstores.